Chris Howard's Writing & Art

Holiday hamsters

The kids and I gave Alice a hamster cage--sort of a big one, with two hamster-wheels and two little houses--a hamster duplex if you will.  No hamsters, though.  We're going out next week to pick out one--Alice will.  We'll watch and make cute rodent noises, I think.  Sketched this to go along with the cage:

Alice got me headphones--not just any headphones: Beats by Dr. Dre. Awesome sound.  Man, everything sounds better with these.

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Seaborn for Newbs

Hitting bookstore shelves SUMMER 2009!  (Okay, maybe not)

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When they make the Seaborn Rock Opera...

I want them to include "Take a Bow" by Muse.  Listening to it as I type this, and it's...perfect, this slowly building tale of corruption and payment, gaining momentum, heavy guitars, straining voices, cool techno, and just keeps climbing until we're in the thunder.  Very rock opera.  Also makes me miss the Arpeggiator on my old KORG keyboard--left it in California.  Ugh.

Take a listen:

http://www.last.fm/music/Muse/_/Take+a+Bow

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The advanced state of surveillance in our country

Spotted this one at the Target in Morgan Hill, CA.  Many of the Targets have video surveillance--at least the signs tell us they do, and given the low cost of quality surveillance gear, I believe it.  What really stunned me--shocked and stunned--were the integrated biologic units (IBUs) in the system. These guys are super tough.  You're planning to pull some shenanigans in a Target parking lot?  Give it up, man.  Move your op to a Walmart lot instead.

Here's what you're up against: an enhanced version of the Larus species (see gulls or seagulls), a ground nesting carnivore that will take "live food or scavenge opportunistically"--that means you, and can be easily reconfigured for ground surveillance and aerial bombardment, deploying up to eight AAMs (air-to-air missiles) for disabling neighboring surveillance systems, or dual cruise missiles with a payload variety for taking out large structures, metro areas, SUVs, etc.

Thanks to greefus groinks for the CC-licensed surveillance sign closeup on Flickr. All other photos are mine, although you're free to share and link.

"Of course I speak whale"

"Who are you looking for?"

This week's Illustration Friday topic is "flawed" which I'm taking as unsuitable and improper rather than defective--although not going to pretend this one's not.

I was doing some underwater sketching with Kassandra, getting ready for a new set of panels for Saltwater Witch this weekend, and...Dory just sort of swam into the scene and started asking questions.  Dory, if you don't already know, is the coolest character from the movie, Finding Nemo (played by the wonderful Ellen DeGeneres).

Please click the image for the full view:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finding_Nemo

Witch WIP

Isn't it funny how mood and health (I've come down with a nasty cold) can affect what you write or draw?  See my witch below?  That's how I feel right now. 

I started storyboarding the next few scenes for Saltwater Witch, one with Kassandra losing her cool and arguing with a voice in her head.  Bet that looks sane.  Then I went off the rails. 

I had a couple quick angry sets of eyes and mouths, and then just went with a whim, ending up with my witch.  She's in a short story I outlined a week ago or so.  I also wrote 600 words or so on it, but haven't been back.

Just pencil right now, but I'll color it when I have time, probably watercolors.  Witches make better watercolors.

Click to see the full view.   

Kassandra as Outsider

This is what you get when you have kids in junior high school...and they're reading The Outsiders.

So here's the meme:  pick a fictional character, one of your own or a favorite from any author, and come up with something to describe them--a cool name, draw the character, a written description--as if they were in S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders.

Okay, not really, although you're welcome to run with it.  This is going to be the first panel in the very next page of Saltwater Witch--along with a short block of narrative about the voice in her head.

I spent a couple hours painting a new shot of my character Kassandra .  Click the pic for a much larger view:

Band name Friday

You know how it is, you say something strange and think to yourself, that would make a great band name.

Here they are, my first three four. You should try to see one this weekend:

Monofilament Trousers

PCP Violinists

Raggedy Antediluvian

Prolix Librarians

Get your tickets now!

BREAKING NEWS: Naruto a Keebler Elf

This one's for my son Christopher who's a huge Naruto fan. 

The Story:

Months of undercover investigation, and the truth has been revealed:  Naruto, the main character of the popular manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto, will one day assume the Chief Baker title at Keebler. 

"We uncovered overwhelming evidence of temporal convergence," said an unnamed source in the investigation, "including identical facial markings among Naruto and the tree-dwelling Keebler bakers: the whiskers of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox."

"The future will be full of ex-ninja-bakers," said another source.

Proof in the picture:

http://www.keebler.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naruto
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Naruto_characters#Nine-tailed_demon_fox

My first appearance on a panel...

...and it was damn fun.  I'd guess about 20 People or so.  It started out funny because Skott was driving and I told him 7PM when it turned out to be 7:30.  Speed records and law breaking ensued and we got some exercise running for the Alumni library only to find out...we were early.  Some interesting questions from the audience, and a good balanced panel, some serious, some funny.  Basically we talked for an hour and a half about SF and it’s future.  I don’t think it could have gone better.

Jeff Carver moderated, kicked off discussions.  The talk ranged over everything SF, what's new, what's next, how is our genre changing, touching on subjects that could feed whole new panels, writers blogging, graphic novels and predicting the ending of Lost (in which I was lost, because I've never seen the show).

I know Jeff Carver and Craig Shaw Gardner from the SF workshop they run every year in the Boston area (In the caves under Pandemonium Books in Central Square in Cambridge).  First time I've met both Alex Jablokov and Matt Jarpe--although I've seen them at cons.  Alex was hilarious, a great sense of sarcasm, and since I can't wait for Brain Thief to come out next summer, I'm going to track down A Deeper Sea because, well, it's the sea!  Matt's novel Radio Freefall is next on my list to read--I've heard nothing but good things about it. 

The local Barnes & Noble in Lowell had a stack of books for sale--and for each of us to sign.  Jeff's novel Sunborn just came out and they had a cool cover display.  Man, I want one of those!

Happy Halloween!

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